Camilo James has arrived!

Ok, so this isn't breaking news anymore, but we're finally back home and I can start catching up on blog posts!

So the birth story:

On September 11th I had what would be my last ultrasound at 38 weeks pregnant. Because all previous ultrasounds had indicated a very LARGE baby, my doc wanted one last check to make sure Camilo had slowed down his growth in the final couple of weeks. Well, he hadn't. At 38 weeks, Camilo was already measuring as big as a post-term baby - 42 weeks!!! At first, my doc just shrugged and said, "Oh well, I guess you'll be having a big baby. We knew this all along." Then, after some consideration, he called me the next day and asked us to come to discuss a possible induction. He predicted a C-section would be the eventual outcome but I begged for a chance to at least try. At the end of that discussion, he was on the phone with the maternity ward letting them know we were on our way!

After that, everything happened so fast - it was all a blur of small indignities. The enema, me spilling a urine sample all over myself, suppositories up in the hoo-haw, walking the halls trying to get contractions going, etc. And of course, the millions of questions! When do we let family know? Who will take care of Eomer? Will this all go quickly? Will I end up with a C-section? Will they let me EAT anything?  Well, to cut to the chase, the answer is no, they didn't let me eat anything - the bastards. And after 16 grueling hours of constant contractions (really. constant. no breaks between them.), I had dilated one fucking centimeter. Also I could feel that Camilo had not only NOT dropped lower into my pelvis, but he has retreated up higher under my ribs! So my doc showed up and simply told me that's it, no more, lets get him out. He's not coming on his own.  I was devastated, shed some tears, but then 30 minutes after that conversation, I heard Joan say "he's out! he's out! look at him! he's all cheesey!"

I only got to see him for a few seconds before he and Joan were whisked away to neonatal, but he was indeed covered in cheese, he seemed HUGE, and much to my relief, the cleft was exactly as expected. Camilo let out the tiniest of whimpers when they held him up to my face, then off he went!  So his official stats: 3.850kg in weight, 53cm long, and a head circumference of 37cm!  He was in the 95% on every measure! I have no clue how all that fit inside of me! Also the thought of him going until full-term still terrifies me!

Once up in maternity ward, Camilo proved to very popular because he was so different than all the other chilean babies. Doctors, residents, nurses, and students all wanted to check out 1) the HUGE baby, 2) the baby without hair, and 3) the cleft.  It was pretty great to be told over and over again by so many experts how healthy and perfect he was.  But in the end, I was clearly a disruption for the other mothers and their babies we were sharing a room with so they "gifted" us a private room for the remainder of our stay! All in all, we were very well taken care of. And aside from what I imagined would the worst possible birthing experience coming to pass, it wasn't soooo bad and I'd do it again in a heartbeat to have this little guy in my arms!